A Plague Tale: Innocence (2019) - Rats on four and two legs - 8/10 (03/01/21)

A Plague Tale: Innocence is an action-adventure horror stealth game developed for Playstation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows by French video game developer Asobo Studio. The game takes place in Aquitaine during the Black Death pandemic in the fourteenth century. The story follows teenage girl Amicia whose father gets brutally murdered by the Inquisition. She gets separated from her mother and must flee with her younger brother who suffers from a mysterious disease. It later turns out that her brother Hugo has the ability to control rats that are spreading the pandemic with an ability known as the Prima Macula. Grand Inquisitor Vitalis Benevent attempts to kidnap Hugo to inject his blood and control the pandemic. Amicia decides to protect her brother Hugo and defeat the Grand Inquisitor by any means necessary and is supported by other teenagers such as a young alchemist, sibling thieves and a blacksmith. Things become even more personal when Amicia realizes that her mother is still alive and hold captive by Vitalis Benevent.

The game has an appropriate length of seventeen chapters and its difficulty increases steadily. There are three opponents that can be seen as bosses in the game, namely hostile villager Conrad at the end of the second chapter, Lord Nicholas at the end of the fifteenth chapter and finally Vitalis Benevent at the end of the sixteenth chapter.

A Plague Tale: Innocence convinces with stunning graphics that bring the Middle Ages to life. The cinematic soundtrack blends in perfectly. The characters are diversified and intriguing. The story line has a few interesting twists and turns and is entertaining from start to finish. All these elements develop a nearly cinematic atmosphere that can be considered the game's greatest strength.

There are only two minor flaws that should be pointed out. While the story progresses smoothly throughout the first two thirds of the game, the final chapters from chapter thirteen onwards feel rushed and slightly confusing. The thirteenth chapter when Hugo mysteriously runs away from his sister and somehow manages to find members of the Inquisition is the worst part of the game. The controls are the second and most important flaw. The characters are sometimes difficult to control during battles and it's particularly challenging to make Amicia run when she is in danger. Her character dies on numerous occasions when being followed by enemies who manage to run much faster than her which can become slightly frustrating.

Despite those two minor flaws, A Plague Tale: Innocence is a detailed, entertaining and immersive horror stealth game that brings the Middle Ages back to life and manages to mix facts and fantasy in a balanced way.